The driver of a sedan that was involved in a snow-related collision with a FedEx van in East Hampton on Tuesday was ticketed for allegedly driving without a license.
T.E. McMorrow

East End motorists once again found themselves slip-sliding away this week.

A two-car collision on Monday, on Route 114 near Deer Haven Court in East Hampton, demolished one vehicle, severely damaged the other, and sent the driver of the wrecked car to the hospital.

According to East Hampton Town police, Segundo S. Lluisupa was northbound that day at about 11 a.m. Snow was falling steadily, with a couple of inches of slush, ice, and snow already accumulated. Mr. Lluisupa told police he lost control of his 2003 Nissan, which “spun around and slid into the southbound lane.”

A FedEx 2014 cargo van was headed toward East Hampton at the time. Its driver, James P. Flynn of Smithtown, saw the oncoming car lose control and tried to maneuver through the snow toward the shoulder, he told police, but could not avoid the skidding Nissan, whose airbags deployed upon contact. The collision destroyed the Nissan’s front end and inflicted major damage to the driver’s side of the van, which slid off 114 past the shoulder into snow-covered grass. The Nissan came to a stop in the middle of the road.

Mr. Lluisupa complained of chest pain and whiplash after the air bags opened. He was taken to Southampton Hospital, though not before being cited for driving without a license.

Both vehicles had to be towed. Route 114 remained open throughout, with almost no traffic to detour around the wreckage.

An early-morning snowstorm last week, on Jan. 29, was heavier than forecast but did not produce the mayhem on the roads occasioned by other recent storms. One accident that day involved a westbound 2000 Mazda that slid out of its lane on Montauk Highway in East Hampton Village near the old bowling alley and was struck by a 2006 Ford van.

The van’s driver, William D. Everett of Flanders, 25, told East Hampton Village police he had tried to brake but could not stop in the snow. The driver of the Mazda, Edgar P. Alvarado-Sangurima of Springs, 24, was charged with unlicensed driving, and his car was impounded. Montauk Highway was closed in both directions for a short time while the road was cleared. Neither man was hurt in the collision.

An early-afternoon storm on Jan. 21 produced an instant rash of minor accidents in the town. The first was reported on Jenny’s Path in East Hampton at 12:49 p.m.; by 2:51 p.m., there were eight more.

An East Hampton Town Highway Department snowplow broadsided a 2013 Toyota on Old Montauk Highway in Montauk at about 9:15 a.m. the next day. The driver of the plow, Jose Sanchez, told police the truck began to slide as he went down Wood Drive toward the highway and he could not stop it. The plow hit the passenger side of Vaughan Cutillo’s westbound car.

Later that afternoon a pedestrian stumbled into the path of a moving car and ended up in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Jeannie Pentangelo of Huntington was headed north on Springs-Fireplace Road in East Hampton, she told police, when, as she approached Floyd Street, she saw Proselito Sanchez, address not given, walking on the snowy shoulder of the road. He “staggered and fell into the side of her moving vehicle,” the accident report reads. Ms. Pentangelo’s account was corroborated by the driver of a car that had been headed in the opposite direction.

Mr. Sanchez, who police said appeared to be intoxicated, had a cut on his forehead.

Snow caused an accident on Jan. 26 as well. Margery Rosen of New York was driving north on Three Mile Harbor Drive in East Hampton when her 2004 Volvo skidded on a patch of snow. The car veered off the road and into two trees, and the driver was left with a bloody nose and chest pain. She too was taken to the hospital.

In Sag Harbor, the snow story has unfolded with no serious accidents, but a flurry of summonses. “We were lucky,” Sergeant Tom Pagano said last week after the Jan. 21 storm.

Not so lucky were the owners of cars left out on the street during the storms and the following cleanup. Their vehicles were ticketed or, where necessary, towed away. The Sag Harbor Village Code prohibits street parking from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., the sergeant said, when snow exceeds two inches in depth.

About the Author

T.E. McMorrow began freelancing for The Star in 2009, before coming on staff, full time, at the end of 2011. He is a member of the Drama Desk in New York. His book, “Nutcracker in Harlem,” illustrated by James Ransome, is scheduled for publication in the fall of 2017 by HarperCollins children’s division.